@Pablo: Good dispatch you have there from the Barcelona Digital Global Congress. How many products or applications have we seen fall by the wayside over the years because of poor user interface. Paul Walborsky is right on the money with that one. I am not even sure I can envision what type of user interface I would want to see for, say, my "home of the future."

How do you think the interface should look/feel/operate? Should it be tablet-controlled? Touch/heat senesitive? Voice activated?

@SusanF: I want this scenario you have outlined to be available to me now:

You program only one thing: The device that wakes you up, or, in my case, the time when you want to start your day. When that device goes off it tells your coffee or tea maker to start. There is a kitchen AI making your beakfast, your shower starts so when you step into it it's all nice and warm, etc. So, your day flows beautifully and you can spend your time doing what no one -yet- can do for your: Your brain work, your creations, your research, your writing.

While that sounds like it would make my life so much more manageable, i really do worry about security and privacy. Let's face it, we can't even manage to keep our personal data from being compromised now (Target hack, thank you very much!). I wonder, though, if the sheer volume of informatio about us and our lives in the IoT will become so much that it actually makes the hackers' jobs too difficult.

I know that sounds rather silly, but think about it this way: When you're walking home late at night, the coventional wisdom is that you are safer in a group than by yourself. LIkewise, perhaps, IoT will unleash such a tidal wave of information that it will become every more difficult for hackers and criminals to isolate the data that really matters to them...

I have to agree with Chris Kuntz, of ThingWorx who related the home scenario to business. "People understand it's not just about connecting your product, connecting your smart thing, collecting that data. It's about how do you connect it with a business process to effect some sort of change."

We understand the security challenges with IoT and the lack of standards. As IoT adoption increases standards with be developed and implemented. It is the natural evolution of technology adoption processes.

What is equally important is to consider how IoT fits in the Enterprise Architecture and as Chris mentions "how do you connect it with a business process to effect some sort of change". There is a lot of hype around smart devices and big data, but the real value will be realized when it is wired into the operational processes of a business. Adoption (and funding) of IoT will be accelerated when organizations can "listen" for key business events from sensors, "decide" if an intervention is required and "act" in a timely and appropriate manner to these key business events.

This requires that IoT becomes part of the Enterprise Architecture that considers the data from these devices, the other systems that it interacts with and the processes that manages the interventions and actions from the information that we gather from these devices.

Our experience with mature Fortune 10 companies who use smart devices in M2M and Operational Technology (OT) scenarios show that standards will emerge but considering how to create operational benefits from these devices and big data requires some Enterprise Architecture thinking as well.

IoT will also require some thought to manage the operational process applications that deliver the benefit from the devices, and not just applications that manage the devices itself. As Chris said, it is estimated that it will require around 5 to 10 million applications to support the billions of devices to deliver business value. The architecture needs to be extended not just to the IoT devices, but to how it fits into the enterprise and its processes.

>> The biggest IoT challenge, according to Professor Sanjay Sarma of MIT, is the lack of an overarching architecture to pull together myriad streams of IoT information into a flexible and responsive ecosystem of applications.

If we can't figure out how to make security air tight, then perhaps architecture isn't our biggest issue. Unless we are prepared for people to break into our networked kitchen faucets and mess with the water.

Paul Walborsky, CEO of Gigaom, gave a keynote speech this morning in the Barcelona Digital Global Congress. He was mainly talking about IoT and sensors and one of the things I remember most about his talk is when he said that Google paid that much money for Nest because of their design.

I do agree with that assesment. While the lack of clear standards is one the important barriers for the mass adoption of IoT, a clear and simple design is important for people's adoption.

The same way that people like some products, such as the iPhone, because it is powerful but also easy to use, we need the same concept on wearables and other home devices.

" ... the system of systems that runs our lives will automatically know our tastes and desires based on analysis of various data about us."

Well, I don't consider myself lazy, but as the available time when I am awake is so limited and I can't sleep less than what I sleep I have to prioritize how to use my time. This means that programming things is rarely a top priority. Maybe it should be? :/

So, for this reason, having a system of systems running my life and programming everything for me sounds like heaven. :D Think of this:

You program only one thing: The device that wakes you up, or, in my case, the time when you want to start your day. When that device goes off it tells your coffee or tea maker to start. There is a kitchen AI making your beakfast, your shower starts so when you step into it it's all nice and warm, etc. So, your day flows beautifully and you can spend your time doing what no one -yet- can do for your: Your brain work, your creations, your research, your writing. :)

Of course, all this brings us to see the importance of ethical and efficent data collection, good use and analysis of that data, and its useful applications in both consumer and enterprise worlds.

As for the best drummer discussion, probably the one who is right is the one who thinks Ringo Star was. :D

"I'm disappointed we're not farther along than we already are on the consumer front--I remember hearing about all these great ideas at the Consumer Electronics Show many many moons ago ... "

Indeed. I am disappointed, too. I want to experience all the wonderful technology we are discussing in my life time.

Oops. Sorry for the long comment. This article was really inspiring and I love all the discussing around the IoT. :)

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